Motorola DROID ULTRA Makes First Appearance in White?

Yesterday, we saw the Motorola DROID MAXX on its way to Verizon in a first press render. Today, we’re potentially looking at the DROID ULTRA in white (XT1080), also on its way to Verizon as the other brother. No other details were provided by XDA forum member xavierk75, the person responsible for the photo, but it certainly looks a lot like the MAXX.

The first thing that stood out was the entire white face plate. The ULTRA is rumored to be available in white, black and red when it hits Verizon stores, so that’s a good starting point. Motorola has in the past not gone completely white with phones though, and has instead left fronts black and then added colorful accents to outer rims or backsides of phones. Again, this is the “new” Motorola, so anything is possible.

The second thing we noticed were the hardware capacitive navigation buttons of Home, Back, and Multi-task. These were present on the DROID MAXX picture yesterday, and are a major change in design for Motorola when compared to all of their phones from last year. Over the past twelve months or so, we saw Motorola adopt Google’s new stock standard of having on-screen software navigation keys, but at some point they must have decided to change that. Well, the Moto X will more than likely still use on-screen keys, just not these new DROID branded phones for Big Red.

Other than those two things, the phone looks a lot like last year’s RAZR HD. The bezel is semi-thin, but not industry-leading. We’re also seeing a front camera to the right of the speaker grill, along with an area for housing sensors. The side houses the volume rocker and power/lock switch, just like the last couple of year’s of Moto phones have. And that’s it.

The picture doesn’t necessarily give off any indication of the screen size or type. The rest of the specs remain a mystery as well.

CollapseShowComments

the buttons are correct. Look at a Nexus phone. You must be coming from a Galaxy S phone since sammy reversed the two.

moming932

tinyurl.com/l3cselt

Verizon

LOL Still laughing at all the “hardware button” and Blur b*tching. Where is all the crying over Samsung and HTC? They even went a step further and threw in a iPhonish “home” button. As far as Blur goes, you haven’t been paying attention obviously. Blur is dead and has been since ICS.

chucklehead322

Hate the chin.
Hate the hardware buttons.
Hate the specs

IMO, NOT a “game-breaker” device.

Verizon

Which specs do you hate?

chucklehead322

I’m sorry. Specs haven’t been released for this device yet.

I’ll gladly take back my remarks regarding the specs. But… I’m still not a fan of the build. As an HD MAXX owner who returned an S3 for it, I’m extremely dissapointed to see hardware buttons.

chucklehead322

Sorry, the specs for the Ultra haven’t been released yet. I gladly take back the spec comments.

I stand by my opinions on the chin and hardware buttons.

El_Big_CHRIS

Dat chin…

NorCalGuy

Just ugly, looks like a s4 with out the physical button and a nasty black chin. I was hoping for pretty much anything better than this moto.

arapaeyph

You’d think they would be all out pushing for Moto X but this could the last gen of current Droid releases “in the pipeline” like those Google fools have been barking about for months

DJ SPY

Plus, I think Google is doing this on purpose to hammer down the point that Motorola week be run as a separate company. Hardware buttons and Blur in all its glory!

DJ SPY

Why is everyone so up in arms about hardware buttons? No one seems to mind the ugly ”home” button from Samsung. Or HTC’s or any other manufacturer. Why give Moto such a hard time?

Vanquishgc

because they’re the easy whipping boys right now, and have been for some time. Truthfully, when I had my S3 the home button drove me nuts, so I switched back to Moto for a while. But then The new Note came out and I said the hell with it, that thing’s a beast, I’ll deal with it. And honestly, I don’t mind it one bit now. In some cases, it’s actually rather convenient.

Steve Benson

I have the S3 now and the home button and two capacitive buttons drive me nuts. Not to mention, Sammy’s odd button arrangement.

After having a Gnex for nearly two years, nothing but on-screen will feel quite right.

The menu button is useless. Give us on-screen back, home and recents and call it a day.

For KLP 5.0 Google needs to create a gesture at the bottom of the screen to hide/show the on-screen keys. Swipe down off the screen to hide, swipe back up to show. This should satisfy all the cry babies who love their precious screen real estate, while also satisfying the people who love the flexibility of on-screen keys.

Vanquishgc

I totally see both sides. Like I said, I’m cool with it, but I understand how it can drive some people nuts. Accessing Google Now IS a pain having to use the home button, but I try not to think about it too much. It really is the only complaint I have on the phone, so I can let it slide lol

Mrhug3

I mind. It is one of the reasons that I haven’t bought either of those devices yet. Oh yeah, the fact that I’m on Verizon doesn’t help either.

5Jack_lune5

My roomate’s mother makes $87 hourly on the laptop. She has been fired for 7 months but last month her pay was $21739 just working on the laptop for a few hours. Read more here… http://www.Works77.com

Marsg

Is Motorola going forwards or backwards, cant even tell anymore, they went from soft keys to capacitive, keeping up with that thick bezel, on top of all this the Moto X is using early 2012 specs similar to the U.S. version of the HTC ONE X.

KDC

Everyone keep talking about the capacitive buttons but every droid phone has always been hard as rock,you can drop it numerous times and it wouldn’t break.That is what i think Motorola is going for durability not beauty.This phone is no different, it isn’t even that ugly compared to most of the phones out and i bet it will come with specs like the htc one and S4 maybe snapdragon 600,1080p screen etc.Cause i know damn well Verizon will not let Motorola hand them a pos phone to sell while they still under contract ,but i agree if Motorola fix their cameras they will most likely be a major player in the game.

Vanquishgc

Don’t give VZW too much credit. I love em and have been with them forever but they did green light quite a few POS’s, namely the X2 and, as far I’m concerned the worst offender, the DNA. I won’t even sell that garbage to anybody, that’s how many problems I’ve seen with that model. Customers have come in wanting it, and I’ve flat out told them they do NOT want that phone for reasons X,Y, and Z. ‘Here sir/ma’am, instead of that unreliable model, let me show you one of the Galaxy S series or the Motorola HD.’ HTC has a LOT of making up to do in my eyes, before I ever consider one of their phones again. Sorry for the rant. But otherwise, yes I agree with you sir. I happen to appreciate the industrial look myself. it stands out.

mikemeek

Reasons please?

Vanquishgc

As to why the I don’t recommend the DNA? Ok, a couple reasons. Non removable battery. Yes you can make the argument that Moto does the same, but when you’re packing a 3300 mAh battery in the Maxx, there’s not a lot to worry about there. You’re gonna get through the day. My roommate has gotten through 2 in a row on his. The DNA has roughly 2/3 that, coupled with a larger, 1080p display, plus a quad core processor. That equals power suck. And you can’t exactly swap out for an extended battery when the sucker is sealed in. Props to Samsung on this one. Second, no SD support. I get that flash memory is faster, and is preferred by our Google overlords, but the DNA has only 16 freaking gigs to work with! And, once you account for the OS and their Sense overlay, you’re left with about 12.5 gigs. That’s worse that an iPhone. Piss poor planning. Now they got it right with the One, giving you 32 GB, but failed here. Props to Sammy, Moto, and LG for all allowing SD support. The biggest issue I’ve encountered though, is faulty hardware. I’ve gotten multiple returns because of PUK codes caused by the phone not able to read the SIM card. Not the easiest fix in the world, and all it takes with most people is one problem like that and they’re done with that model altogether. I’ve also seen non responsive displays out of the box, which is REALLY bad. And although this problem hasn’t arisen yet, I would be concerned with bad charging ports, as this became a huge issue with them going bad in the Inc2 and Rezound. Granted, they were MHL ports, and the DNA has standard micro usb, but still, I’m wary. Listen, I like the One, and hope HTC turns it around, but as a responsible salesperson and manager, I can’t recommend the DNA to my customers, I take it you’re a DNA owner, which is why you downvoted me and asked your question? 😉

Daniel Walsh

That bezel is huge.

Vanquishgc

Thunderbolt and Bionic say hi 😉

Vanquishgc

Well, just going of looks alone, this is a MASSIVE improvement over what we saw earlier. Still not what Moto is truly capable of, but maybe we can agree it’s a step in the right direction. And that bottom bezel ain’t bad at all. Capacitive or onscreen, I don’t have a preference, but I get why some do. BTW, I love the Moto logo at the top. Nice. Very curious about specs now.

I wonder how Motorola can market these phones so that people know they have little to do with the new Motorola and more to do with Verizon (and the old Motorola)? The thing is, any bad experience from these “DROID RAZR” line will inevitably affect consumers’ decision when they decide whether to buy a Moto X or not.

master94

The most ugly phone I have ever seen. Come on Moto, look at the one and the Galaxy. Those look nice, you can do the same.

zurginator

It’s really easy to see what makes it look terrible too:
1- Black, White, Grey clash. The speaker grille, logo and buttons need to be black. So does the bezel, really.
2- The entire top of the device is just shaped terribly, and the sensor layout doesn’t help. Black bezel would help the later portion of that though.

shecalledmejay

I’m so disappointed with the hardware buttons.

Tyler Durden

Always love a full screen with no button in the way.

chuck

Google and Moto both said they had phones in building that they needed to release before their partnership phones would be available.

Hopefully this is one of said phones.

If images are leaking, that must mean the design is pretty clsoe to final.

If its thin and has larger battery the masses will buy it up.

We represent a small minority of android users here.

Bionic

It’s nothing special guys.

Larizard

ok im surprised people ignored Bionic.

I have a question for you. Will these new line of Razrs and the Moto X debut around the same time? Cuz if they do, it will make sense that they use capacitive buttons on the Razr to differentiate it from the Moto X.

No I’m with you. Already got my Note 2 and a Lumia 928,so I’m not in the market, but I find this attractive as opposed to others here. Design is somewhat subjective though, so if someone finds it hideous there’s nothing wrong with that.

Ryan

These phones in particular may not quite interest me, but they do look somewhat attractive (minus the white one, the kevlar wrapping the bottom to the front doesn’t look that great on a white phone).

Also, the hardware buttons don’t bother me and I’d rather prefer them. Less chance for the software buttons to burn the screen.

dreadnatty08

People are still afraid of software burn from on screen keys?!
My 1.5 year old Gnex seems to differ….

Raven

Only older OLED screens were susceptible to screen burn in. LCD screens have no burn in issues at all.

Mark Mann

i’ve always liked moto’s phones…i’m kinda sad they went back to hardware buttons, but not sad enough that i don’t like this phone…i’m interested in seeing what googlerola can come up with next year

MrCrusha

Probably will still have POS camera as all Motorola phones!

Vanquishgc

*sigh* yeah…….the one giant Achilles heel with all their phones (Bionic was THE worst). HTC, LG, and Samsung can do it right, so what’s holding them back I wonder?

Radgatt

So torn at the moment. I definitely want to get a Motorola phone but don’t know which one to get. These new Droid phones will probably have better specs then the Moto X but the Moto X will probably be closer to stock. What to do…

DainLaguna

get the one which will have the better user experience.

Dorian Brooks

Maybe… Just maybe this is Moto trolling Verizon saying, “Peace out on the contract & exclusive, b*^$%es!!!! Now watch me shine!”

Brian P.

I hope this is the last of piss poor phones from Motorola. Finish whatever is on contract with Verizon and follow Google’s guidance on becoming a real OEM contender.This crap has to be what Google was referring to when they mentioned upcoming devices not up to Google’s specifications. What are you thinking Verizon?

Dave

With Sammy selling 70% of all new android activations, nobody is going to be a competitive OEM unless the start taking some cues from them.

Vanquishgc

Just like they did with Apple. I’m not trolling saying that either. They figured out their formula, and simply did it a gazillion times better: by innovating. Google and Motorola can do it. They won’t beat Samsung, but they CAN become a major player again. I hope they do, as I’ve always been a big fan of theirs.

Dave

Exactly, they just have to accept that fact.

DMBatCOFC

Yuck. Looks like an S4.

Winterblade

Just please someone bring back the high-end qwerty (yes, I’m talking to you Moto)

jak_341

Hardware buttons, Blur, locked bootloader, most likely a subpar screen, and still lack of software support equals this phone is DOA. Especially with the Samsung phones cresting 80% of all Android phones.

Rodeojones000

Hardware buttons? No thanks. This surely will not be my next phone.

Tyler Durden

Who would get this anyways

Rodeojones000

I’m sure many will. While I don’t plan on getting it, I’d still prefer it to the HTC One or S4.

Vanquishgc

We here might crap on what Motorola has done the last couple years, but the masses still go for their stuff. I get customers all the time asking for Moto phones. It’s all about name recognition, and they still have it.

Larizard

So now, do u get to tell them, “Do you know Google owns Moto now?”

Vanquishgc

Oh yeah, all the time actually. Some are aware already, but others find it interesting, and once I explain the potential benefits of Googleola, they get pretty excited.

DainLaguna

except that the masses seem to be buying galaxies and iphones.

hell id love to see how any one moto droid phone sold against the htc one.

first they adopt the standard, then they go back on onscreen keys?? the average consumer wont be brand recognizing anything without consistency.

18 month pipeline this. the moto x is almost here and these devices are just gonna confuse folks.

decidedtochangename

DROID Ultra = Verizon’s phone

Moto X = Google’s Phone

With Moto just marketing the X as their new phone and Verizon marketing the DROID as their phone, it may not be that confusing.

Trueblue711

The Droid RAZRs seem to be really popular with the masses. Personally I think it’s ugly and the screen is terrible, but many must love them.

KOBALT

DROID Maxx X HD++ Pro GT Ultra Plus.

Stay tuned for 4 more upgraded models within 3 weeks. All with the same mediocre specs and look.

kixofmyg0t

4 more upgraded models within 3 weeks?

So you mean like Samsung.

Dave

Where have you been? Samsung releases one galaxy top end device and one Note device on major carriers, otherwise the rest are mid range launches.

kixofmyg0t

Oh really? Guess you missed the Galaxy S4, Galaxy S4 Mini, Galaxy S4 Zoom, Galaxy S4 Active and just to outdate them all the Galaxy S4 LTE Advanced variant. None of those matter because the Note 3 is just around the corner. Then 2 weeks after that hits market we’ll be onto the 50,000 different Galaxy S5 variants and then the Note 3 will be a long distant memory.

Justtyn Hutcheson

THIS. People keep harping on Motorola putting out multiple models with ridiculous names, when Samsung has more model numbers in the past year than Motorola has in the past two years. Its pretty ridiculous. I actually give Motorola props for not caving and doing a mid-year refresh ala the S4LTEA (I get they’re doing it to be the first with LTE-A, but still, its a little ridiuculous).

As for terrible names, lets not forget the current king, the Samsung Galaxy S2 Epic 4G Touch.

david

Wow never heard that before…..

chris

you must of never heard of the droid x2. talk about a bad phone that predates those you mentioned.

Vanquishgc

Holy crap. If there was ever an answer to a question that no one asked, that phone was it. I’ve actually asked customers ‘why did you buy this?’. Answer: ‘because it was free’. Ladies and Gentlemen…..I give you the general population. For me that phone was the beginning of the end.

Justtyn Hutcheson

The X2 was what the CES 2011 Bionic became, unfortunately. Then the Bionic name was reused for the next Verizon device in the line. All in all, Droid devices have been lackluster since the Droid X, though I rarely hear any complaints about the 2012 Droid devices, so those may be outliers.

BRIM

That bezel is just as thick as my S3. Has anyone see the significant difference between the bevel size from the S3 to the S4? Props to Samsung for doing that. I despise big-ass bezels and Moto is notorious for them.

I don’t get it, they made the Moto RAZR M last year that had a (wannabe) “edge-to-edge” phone screen, and yet can’t incorporate that idea moving forward with the future models?

Innovative, eh?

zurginator

It’s why the S4 glass is easier to shatter and the chassis has more flex.

The difference is ~0.5mm, in case you really needed to know.

hackthis02

Oh god. hardware buttons?!

Kenton Douglas

Maybe that’s the only way they could keep the carriers name of the front of the phone? I’m not sure this is real though …

hackthis02

I’m hoping it’s just the render. The screen looks large enough for on screen buttons and it would leave no room for the Verizon logo, which they which they love putting on the bottom of the phone.

BRIM

I’m really surprised Moto going back to hardware buttons when last year they had si software, being owned by Google and all.

Not that I’m interested in Motorola phones but that’s good because I’ve never liked onscreen buttons. Uses up screen real estate.

zurginator

It was probably a Verizon push. I bet their other devices use on-screen.

Larizard

Here’s an idea. Maybe this is a way for Motorola to differentiate the Moto X from the new RAZRs? Considering that its looking like the two phones will probably debut very close to each other.

Maybe a sneaky strategy by the Goog to finally say to the masses, “Here, we have two phones for you to choose from. The first one, totally from us and Google; the other one has Verizon’s grimy hands all over.”

Brian Walker

When I saw that image of the black one yesterday, I wasn’t convinced that the buttons were part of the bezel. I figured it must have been some kind of mistake. On this white one, however, it’s much more clear that they are definitely there. How are you supposed to easily get to Google Now with a setup like this? I use that all the time, so this is a concern for me.

Not that I’m leaving T-Mobile and my Nexus 4 to go back to Verizon or anything…

Dave S.

Getting to Google Now on this button layout will involve a long press on (most likely) the Home button.

Hardware buttons aren’t the end of the world.

Brian Walker

That’s a good alternative that I hadn’t thought of.

crispy

The black kevlar on the bottom wrapping up to the white front looks pretty bad. Just my thoughts though.

Bunklung

Wow. I just noticed this. I thought that was a shadow. Ditch the chin Moto!

findjaysee

It is a shadow no? Please say it’s a shadow. lol

chris

I wish it was. I had to tilt my monitor to get a better look at it and seen the kevlar pattern on the black part. lol

findjaysee

Kind of looks like it should slide up then (meaning it reminds me of the how the OG had that little bottom piece sticking out).

Well, just going of looks alone,
this is a MASSIVE improvement over what we saw earlier. Still not what
Moto is truly capable of, but maybe we can agree it’s a step in the
right direction. And that bottom bezel ain’t bad at all. Capacitive or
onscreen, I don’t have a preference, but I get why some do. BTW, I love
the Moto logo at the top. Nice. Very curious about specs now.

Kimm Ryland

just as Crystal responded I didnt even know that a mom able to make $8593 in a few weeks on the internet. did you see this web page w­w­w.K­E­P­2.c­o­m

jboogie1289

Same thing I thought too but then the more I looked at it, it almost looks like it could be a sliding keyboard but I don’t think that’s it. Kinda strange tho…..

Raven

The only way that I would have ANY interest in this phone is if that chin means that it is a slider. I would love to see a new physical keyboard phone on the market. But, if not, I am afraid that this phone will be DOA.

subadam

$85 an hour! Seriously I don’t know why more people haven’t tried this, I work two shifts, 2 hours in the day and 2 in the evening…And whats awesome is Im working from home so I get more time with my kids. Heres where I went, http://www.Pro67.ℂom

subadam

Since I started with my online business I earn $62 every 15 minutes. It sounds unbelievable but you wont forgive yourself if you don’t read http://www.Pro67.ℂom

james cannes

The navigation doesn’t make any sense

ToddAwesome

yes it does, this is Google’s nav order.

Destroythanet

Side bezel looks a little thick.

zurginator

It’s because of Motorola’s style of engineering solid products. Flex pretty much boils down to how thick the bezel is (there is a ceramic reinforcement mounted under it).

Samsung’s minimization of it is also why the glass is so easy to break — this has a thicker plastic border, which will absorb more impact.

Basically, do you want a durable, solid feeling device, or do you want smaller bezels (there will always be at least 1mm of bezel).

charles rogers

Seems to me like most people want small bezels and large screens. Just from the sales.

zurginator

Well if you through the iPhone in the mix it’s a relative toss-up.

The common denominators in successful smartphones seem to be:
1- Marketing
2- A single ‘halo’ brand name (‘galaxy s’, ‘iphone’) in clear sequential order
3- An identifiable brand design that is reused every model year

Vanquishgc

You got it. Apple innovated it, and Samsung took it one step further, by using 2 unique ‘Galaxy’ models (S-series and Note) to update every year, and actually improve on the previous models in both hardware and software. And the models are the exact same on every carrier. Plus, they throw in some midrange stuff too, to keep the cheap custys happy. They’ve got the formula for success down, and more power to them.

DainLaguna

i feel like samsung should just do what apple does; save resources when making affordable devices and just promote last years flagship as the ’99 buck’ phone

Vanquishgc

well That’s exactly what they’re doing with the S3, and I’ll tell you, I’m selling hell of a lot more of those than the S4’s. A lot of it has to do with price, but many are first time smartphone buyers and don’t give a crap about the fancy gesture stuff and HD display

BRIM

You’re aware of their RAZR M model, right?

zurginator

It uses the plastic frame as the bezel (a really good idea, I might add). The bezel is still 3mm wide, it’s just not glass.

Vanquishgc

Never thought of that…..we always complain about giant bezels, but you have a point. I’ve dropped phones a few times (without cases, shame on me) and those suckers (the Motorola models anyway) barely showed a mark. My old nexus on the other hand took a dive once and almost caved in the one bottom corner. I’m lucky the screen didn’t explode. Makes me wonder about the durability of the S4….

Anonymous

Looks like an upgraded Droid Razr HD.

evltwn

To me looks like a follow up to the razr m. Don’t know if I’d call it an upgrade though. Big disappointment.

j boner

why cant we all get together on the nav button location .. yes home in the middle is all that everyone can agree on

yungtris

That’s Google’s layout of the buttons. Samsung and HTC come up with their own configs.

ToddAwesome

Yep, this is how all Nexus devices are ordered. Seriously though, the order doesn’t bother me from phone to phone, doesn’t take long to get used to it.

Stephen

i’m really mad they went back to capacitive buttons, but this phone does look really nice. If it ends up having an unlockable bootloader (i personally highly doubt it), I might actually get it.